Domestic violence victim speaks out against online data brokers

by by Brian Pia, ABC 33/40 News iTeam Investigator

File photo of a keyboard. (WLUK)

Data brokers, which include people search websites, are companies that collect and share information about us from government and public records, consumer surveys and other sources. It’s perfectly legal.

But, experts say there a number of different people who search the sites that can pose significant risks.

The risk to domestic violence victims

Donna is a domestic violence victim. We’re protecting her identity. One of her addresses came up on a data broker site. She says that’s frightening.

“If you have someone who’s tried to kill youfor them to be able to just type in your name, and any known address that you’ve stayed at can pop up. It’s scary, because now they know ways to start trying to find you,” Donna told the ABC 33/40 News iTeam.

Annetta Nunn is an advocate for domestic violence victims at the YWCA Central Alabama. Her team found many victims whose addresses appeared on data broker sites.

“Well, it’s a very dangerous situation that puts victims and survivors in imminent danger,” Nunn said. “Because that information is out there on various public websites, or those that you can pay a fee and obtain information.”

Pam Dixon is executive director of the World Privacy Forum. That’s a public interest research group focused on data privacy. She says the information stored on data broker and people search websites puts us at risk for identity theft.

And then there’s the issue of online security. Equifax, the big credit reporting service, was hacked. The massive breach exposed sensitive data on nearly 146 million consumers. So, if hackers could breach Equifax, what about lesser known data broker sites?

“You can reset account passwords, you can take over someone’s identity, apply for credit cards in their name, apply for small loans in their name, and effectively start to really compromise their online identities,” Haynes said.